A few months back, I awoke at 3:30 in the morning, because we had a visitor at my house. A very unwelcome visitor. A skunk.

Now this happens occasionally where we live, but this time the stench was unbelievable. It was so bad I thought I was going to be sick. I jumped out of bed to close the window – but the window was already closed. It was almost like the skunk had already gotten into the house – it was that bad.

I don’t know much about skunks, but as incredibly foul as the smell was I wondered: do skunks travel in PACKS? Because this COULDN’T have been just ONE… This had to be the work of a SKUNK ARMY or something.

I think most of what I know about skunks comes from the movie “Bambi” – you remember that cute little skunk named Flower? I’m beginning to suspect that that movie was mostly fiction…

So, lying there in bed I started wondering: how can a skunk stand itself? Does it just get used (continue reading…)

So here’s the deal… In honor of my Big Date with my daughter Emily this Friday, I’m giving away an mp3 of my song “Don’t Cry (Goodnight Emily)” that I wrote for her when she was a baby.

Click HERE, enter the code SCOTTFREE4FEB and download your free song! Let me know what you think…

The song was on my first solo CD “All I Know” but this version was from a couple years earlier when I was still with the band The Nobodys (the Christian band, not the punk band)… If you’re curious, check out this REVIEW from a British magazine (with song samples).

Hey everyone, I’ve kind of been taking a break from this website lately, but now it’s back to work!

One of the fun/challenging/frustrating/joyful things about being an independent artist is that you wear many, many hats.  The challenge becomes making sure that the most important things get priority, and this is where I tend to stumble. I’m usually juggling a dozen things at once, and my family is often quietly waiting for me to set everything else down and give them my full attention.

My “hat list” (excluding my Worship Pastor hats):

• Booking agent (scheduling shows and church services)
• Marketing director (publicity, website management, social media, etc.)
• Songwriter (or, in my case, alleged songwriter, since I rarely make much time for this)
• Band leader (hiring/firing, travel agent, road manager)
• Radio promoter (actually, I hire people to do this, but I’m very hands-on because I’m a control freak)
• Record producer (didn’t record at all in 2011, but I plan to this year)
• Plus there’s family stuff (karate and dance and 4-H and chopping wood and home maintenance…)
• Etc. (there’s probably more but I’m out of time).

The truth is, most of us wear many hats. You might be a mom who also writes a blog and who works at a grocery store and breeds Labradors on the side … plus you teach Third Grade Sunday School and help out at church youth group on Wednesday nights.

So if I were the “New Year Resolution” type, mine would be to be even more purposeful about spending time with my family. How about you?

In a couple of days^th, Jaime Thietten and I will launch this year’s Christmas tour.

After last year’s shows, we released a live concert DVD called “Christmas with Scott Riggan and Jaime Thietten,” which contains all 22 songs from the show (including “I See You,” last year’s Top 20 hit). The DVDs are available again this year, but only while supplies last.

The show was a lot of fun, so please pick up your copy by clicking “Add to Cart” below!
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My son Josiah and I had a “guy’s night out” last Friday – which of course meant pizza and arcade games. Our local pizza joint has exactly two (2) working arcade games – small town, you know – but it was still fun.

Usually I give Joey just a few quarters (I’m pretty cheap), but since I took his sister on a relatively expensive date last week (Olive Garden and a movie) I let him have a lot more quarters – and he had a blast.

There was another little boy there enjoying the games too. Most of the time this kid was “playing” a shoot-em-up game without putting any quarters in. And although he eventually got his hands on a few coins, he very quickly blew through them.

The funny thing was that I think he liked pretending to play the game just as much as he did actually playing it. (continue reading…)

I don’t really know a lot about sheep. We have a few of them at my house, but I’m not particularly attached to them myself. Mostly they kind of bug me because they’re pretty stupid and they sometimes get through the fence and you have to figure out where they’re getting out …

So it would be fair to say that I wouldn’t be a very good shepherd. (continue reading…)

Jaime Thietten and I will be touring the Christmas show again this December, and so far we have dates in the works for California, Oregon, Washington, Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia. Would your church like to host our concert? Here’s a promo video taken from last year’s shows:

The other night I woke up standing in the living room holding one of my wife’s crutches (from when she broke her leg a few yrs ago). I couldn’t remember how or why but I had a vague certainty that there had been a threat to my family and I was going to stop it… Some people talk about sleepwalking, but I’m actually doing something about it….

As you all know, May the fourth is widely known as “May The 4th Be With You Day” or “Star Wars Day.” I, for one, think this is brilliant.

Here’s a Star Wars-related story for you. In both my local church ministry and my traveling concert ministry, my job involves talking a lot – often ad libbing – which can lead to some regrettable statements.

For example, a few years ago I was introducing a song at a marriage conference, and I was thinking about some of the conflict-resolution strategies that had been offered. For some reason I had mentioned Star Wars earlier and was now talking about how complicated relationships can be.

I said something along the lines of how, in marriage, you have to choose your battles carefully, and that I had learned that sometimes (I can’t believe I said this) “you have to let the wookie win.”

This statement was greeted with an awkward, stunned silence. Except for my band members, who were all on the floor laughing. (continue reading…)

We have a winner! Emily has agonized over the names (there were over 100 submitted) and she has come to a decision… The winning names are…

… “Ping” and “Pong,” submitted by CarolBeth! Thanks to everyone who contributed ideas! We had a great time (and a few laughs) looking over your suggestions. And congratulations, CarolBeth – I’ll contact you soon to make arrangements for your prize (free CD or DVD).